Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1887-06-02
THE MURDERED BOYS.
showers Disclaims All Knowledge Of
the Crime, Bot There - No Doubt
That He stransled Them.

| D1sol~inb Ali h0OWleQBo o
the Crime, Bot There y NO Doub
That he strangled Them.
| LEBANON, June Tie excitepoen,
attending tbe brutal murder of tvy,
iittle boys BY their unnatural qrsnd
parent, William Showers, who is now
Ia jail here, has not yet abated through.
out tho Lebanon Valley. Business wss
partially suspended and all classes OF
| people discussed nothing but the horri.
PIE crime. As it is unfolded in all its
| uetails II constitutes story of love.
nate and finally murder unparalleled In
the history Of criminal annals in East.
ern Pennsylvanta.
a visit was frat paid to the cold.
Dtoooed murderer In the Lebanon Jail.
ne has not confessed, 40 WAS reported.
ne was dressed In o neatly fitting dark
SUIT Of clothing and had his hair
| mustache.
"Oh," said he to the reporter, "this
10 horrlpieI l am ACQUIRED OF o horrible
crime OF which know nothing. It's
all q terrible mistake and viii come 10
ohildrenl They tell me that theS we're
found buried In my garden. That ex.
plains their mysterious dissppearanoe.
have placed the case In the hands oi
my lawyers, and, with the help of God
up"
Showers TO- day paid bis lawyers.
Messrs, Lsntz q Seltzer, $500, giving
tnem Judgment on his property for
that sum. While speaking with the
reporter he appeared cool ami collected !.
and ~ the visitor left he knelt down in
bis cell AZ II In prayer.
THE SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY.
A drive of four miles took the cor.
respond ent TO Annville, the scene of tha
tragedy. Showers house is situated
on the edge Of the town aud around il
ase some seventy acres, the property Of
the murderer. Tho house is two.
story frame, painted drab. The build.
ing was closed, but curious neighbors
were standing In and around the preml.
ses talking about the tragedy. Az each
chapter In the da, X crime is brought 10
light, Showers motive for murdsrino
his victims becomes more apparent and
his old nei2hbors are willing TO tell
what they know about him.
Showers IL not q poor man, but owns
the farm aud is considered well-,o-do.
he receives 624 pension from the gov.
eminent. A year ago his wife died
suddenly. Owing to his ill treatma ant
MS three sons left home. His daughter
sarah, the mother OF the murdered chill
drsn by different fathers, died next.
after Q few hours illhsss. Thsn the
neigh began to talk. The care of
the Two children was then thrown upon
Showers. He had no housekeoper and
was obliged TO provide their meals and
attend TO their wants.
At the age Of SO Showers still yearned
for wife. Half mile from b ia house
resides maiden lady named Miss
Elizabeth Sargent. She is about fifteen
years younger than Showers. Hs en-
gagged her as his housekesper, with the
ostensibie view Of marrying her. It
has already been related that she oh
Jected to the children, but would agree
TO his proposals II he would bind them
out. Showers agreed to do this. He
applied to the county almehouse. Here
he was refused, because he was wealthy
and could support them himself. Then
ne wanted to place them In tho Orph ana
Home at Lloysville and was again re
fused.
THE DOUBLE MURDER.
In the meantime Miss Sargent pur.
chased q silk wedding dress In Lebanon.
ana Showers determined to get rid OF
the children. How 1t WAS done has
already been told. lie must have crept
into their room while they were sIaep-
ing. choked them and Drained them
with . club, put q rope around their
necks and dragged them out into his
garden near drain, where he had al.
ready dug trench, and buried them.
This 1s the story of the neigh bors.
Ihey say that the murderer ie worth
about $40.
This afternoon Showers little victims |
were buried in the Village Cemetery of |
the Annville, each occupying q sepa.
rate coffin. Thousands filled the rurel |
graveyard. The services were brief,
and Rev. Mr.. Dietzler referred In fit-
ting terms to the awful tragedy.
Showers will not be tried until Sen.
tenn Der. Many threats Of lynching are |
made.
DID HE KILL HIS Wifi?
Mary Showers, a sister of the accused |
murderer, stated to-day that q short |
time sgo oranges were found In the
house which contained poison, and
which, IL has been said, were "doc.
tored" by Showers himself to make It'll
appear that some person contemplated
him. Several times the Old
man was known to fire shots In tBel
house late at night so as to make 1t ap.
pear that some person shot after him.
Suspicion has become rife ss TO the sud.
den deaths of his wife and daughter,
which the neighborhood claim were duel
to poieon.